On the road this week, and a reading rec

Constant readers, I’m teaching this week at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and New Media Institute, so blogging will be light. If you’re in the Athens or Atlanta area, please come say hello, I’ll also be speaking publicly:

Tuesday: 4 p.m., Room 175 of the University of Georgia’s Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, Athens.

Meanwhile, some reading: When we’re talking about MRSA control, we often talk, somewhat lightly, about isolating people within a hospital or nursing home in order to control MRSA’s spread. For instance, isolation is the key technique on which “search and destroy” hinges.

In today’s New York Times, Dr. Abigail Zuger writes a thoughtful column on the historic roots and present-day challenges of putting patients into isolation. It’s very much worth reading, particularly for understanding why tending to patients in isolation is such a time-burden for health care staff. Also, her description of how C. diff spreads will make you want to wash your hands immediately.